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They had a cooking class that day, and that child showed how to make curry rice. While the rest of the children her age had trouble in using kitchen knives, that child's handling of the knife was exceptionally fine.

The teacher came up to me and whispered that I must've done a great job in teaching her with cooking skills at home. I evaded a response by pretending to be amused.

...As a matter of fact, I've never even taught her how to make curry rice. Yet, she tore the vegetables apart and placed them into the pot starting from those that take a while to boil.

A normal parent would embrace in joy for his/her child's talent and skill. But it was different for mine.

...Someone must've implanted her again on how to make curry rice without my knowledge. ...That was my initial response. Sudden unpleasantness began to surround me. As I learned, it seems that she can also sew and wash the clothes as well. However, I've never taught her those household chores yet, nor have I seen her doing them inside our home. ...Cooking, sewing, and washing clothes. ...It's those elderly members of the village once again, inserting things into that child's head. And to top it off, they brainwash her with queer superstitions that she's the reincarnation of the Oyashiro-sama.

I professed my arguments to my husband to isolate that child from mingling with the elderly. However, my husband is rather weak when it comes to dealing with the elderly - the main proponents of the Furude Shrine. "...She's being loved by everyone, just leave it at that," straddled my husband.

I protested. She is our child, and she should grow up to be a normal child just like everyone else. She is not something queer as a reincarnation of the Oyashiro-sama.

The elderly strongly believes that she has divine powers.

They say that she has can predict the weather. However, I have seen her coming home wet because she forgot the umbrella.

They say that she has clairvoyant eyes on what's happening elsewhere. That can be easily explained as she has the tendency to avidly watch current events on the news.

They say that she knows things that she shouldn't know. But that's just because the parties that put ideas and things into her head and the other that want to believe that she has such powers exist in the same village.

However, there was a time when everyone thought it was going to be sunny all day, yet she refused to let go of her umbrella. It must've been a coincidence that it suddenly began to downpour. Her umbrella did save us from coming home all wet.

...There might've been some times when Rika might've known about a big news event happenning outside of Japan even before it broke news. I just passed it off that she might've heard a breaking news report on the radio or whatnot.

...As for knowing things that she shouldn't know...well, that's happening right in front of my eyes. She's making curry rice when no one has taught her how to make one.

A few days following the Watanagashi Festival, Hojou Satoshi disappears.

Logically thinking, there are three plausible reasons for Satoshi-kun’s disappearance.

The first, is if he got into some type of accident.
There have been stories of bodies not being found for months after being hit by a car, or falling in a ditch. But since the police have thoroughly searched Satoshi-kun’s area of activity and still yet to find anything, I believe this is not the case.

The next, is if he simply decided to disappear.
Satoshi-kun’s life has cornered him mentally to an extreme. Honestly, it seems he even grumbled about wanting to vanish from his surrounding. The police believed Satoshi-kun was the culprit who kill his aunt and thought he may have ran. Linking this all together, this explanation has the best sense of realism.

But afterwards when a different culprit was found, this theory has been crushed.

The thrid, is if he disappeared as a victim to the Hinamizawa Chain of Bizarre Deaths, otherwise known as the Oyashiro-sama’s Curse, is the last consideration. Unless someone can prove this occult being, Oyashiro-sama’s existence, then these cases are with no doubt carried out by human means. Satoshi-kun being erased by somebody’s hands is the most convincing deliberation. Then the #1 question will be: Whose hands was it done by?

My presumption is either the Sonozaki Estate, another Gosanke member sympathizing with their intention, or one of my relatives is with little doubt the culprit.
......wait, the cops would had already figured this much.

What really needs to be thought of is from here.
Frankly, who, in what way, for what reason?
Why did Satoshi-kun need to become a victim?
What was the motive?
Who gave the order?
Who carried it out?

The mastermind, the culprit, and the truth... are all right by me.

Possibly, it might be just behind my back. However, even if it were to be behind me, I cannot reach it with ease. It is in a difficult place for my hands to reach and to grasp it I would need to pain my shoulders, grind my teeth, and then maybe my fingertips might be able to graze it. What I seek is hidden in a place like that.

This record written here from this point on, serves as a memo to sort my inquiries in addition to document my remorse. I do not believe that this memo will touch the eyes of anyone other than myself. But if anyone aside myself were to read this memo

...it is either because I have revealed the truth and disposed this memo for I have no more need for it; or had at one point become a victim of the “Oyashiro-sama’s Curse” myself, and disappeared leaving behind this memo.

If the former, then good.
......but if the latter...
Please, I beg you to lend me your strength, for I am no more than a helpless little girl.

In her eyes you could see the life and tears reviving.
.....and then looking at my face,
“.................”

What was over, she already knew; but her eyes begged to hear those words directly from my mouth.

......in truth... I had also expended my energy.
Even if it was a trivial task for my sister to explicitly ask for those words annoyed me a bit.

But, if it will console my little sister who’s holding back her tears even for a little bit... Gently, I spoke the words she awaited.

“......Auntie’s scolding has ended, ok? ...so... let’s go to sleep.”

Satoko... with the tears still pouring from her eyes tightly gripped onto me while killing her voice as she cried once again.

Seeing her weak trembling back was painful.
......every time I see this sight... reminds me that if I don’t protect her no one will.
“Now... brush your teeth, then let’s layout the futon... and go fast asleep.”

Satoko frailly returned a smile as she nodded.

My head is spinning... My body freed and subdue from the tension, was attacked by a drowsiness fit for that mayhem. While Satoko occupied the sink, I left for the bathroom to take care of business.

Blop,blop,blop,blop... as I watch my piss poured into the toilet... I became dazed.
If I loose my concentration, my pee probably will spill out... no, I’ll probably be swallowed down the toilet as in my hallucinations.

Today was like every other day.
I cannot remember what triggered it, and whatever the trigger was, the context kept changing throughout. It doesn’t matter.

And again the clock past 12.
The drowsiness assaulted me hammering the back of my head.

As the last thread of tension severed, Satoko without warning collapsed; yet still holding onto the cuff of my pants, it seems she fell asleep.

Carrying Satoko on my back I went to the bedroom... and laid out the futon.

“Hey, Satoko... the futon is laid out. Climb in”
Satoko limply like a caterpillar crawled then concealed herself in the futon, and proceeded to stop all motion.

Seeing that almost made me to succumb to my desire to also slip into the futon.
But... I cannot sleep just yet.

My Aunt had just requested me to purchase stuff.
A tube of toothpaste, I cannot forget to buy this on my way home tomorrow. If I don’t write a note, I’ll forget...

And then the Rice Cooker, gotta set the rice for tomorrow’s lunch. Don’t forget the timer...
That’s right! Also got to fold the mountain of towels in the laundry room which triggered today’s scolding... My Aunt will burst into extreme anger if what she pointed out is not fixed.

aaaahhhh, what else?
...that’s right, I was going to the Produce Store to help part-time. Also, he told me to bring an apron.
......do we... even have an apron here? ...I’ve never seen one...

My Aunt is still asleep when we leave for school, so there’s no time to ask.
What do I do, what do I do, Mion went out of her way to introduce me to this job, so I can’t anger them.
The apron, I got it, when I go to school tomorrow I’ll ask Mion or someone. They’ll definitely lend me one.

Was there anything else..? mmmmmm..............

I’m envious of Satoko sleeping in the futon.
Just thinking of that, made me sad.

Let's examine the conversation I had with that strange girl in the rain here.

Ryugu Rena.
Her real name is Ryugu Reina.

I'm not really sure about the true identity of this girl.

The one thing I know for sure is that she doesn't have any connections with the Sonozaki main family.
Of course, she doesn't have any relationships with any of the Gosanke either.

It's true that the Ryugu family had lived in Hinamizawa in the past.
After that, about her family moving to Ibaraki, it's just as she said herself.

They moved to Ibaraki just before she entered elementary school, ......and after that, they returned to Hinamizawa.

Ryugu Rena herself stated that she returned to Hinamizawa after receiving a warning (curse?) from Oyashiro-sama.

It is unclear what she's referring to by this.
She claims to have received 「Oyashiro-sama's Curse」 once before.

Saying that Oyashiro-sama would constantly watch her, and follow behind her steadily.

I think it's probably just some kind of self-victimizing delusion, but ....Strangely, those experiences have drawn a lot of interest from Satoshi-kun.

According to her, at this point in time, Satoshi-kun too is beginning to receive Oyashiro-sama's Curse as well.

It appears that Satoshi-kun has confessed to this girl about how he is being followed by some unknown entity as well.

And then, it appears he became very shocked at how her 「experience story」 matched his own.

What is Oyashiro-sama's Curse...?
Why did Rena and Satoshi-kun share a common experience?

It seems to me like this is most likely referring to some kind of surveillance by someone in the village.
They must be monitoring the movements of the victims for this year's curse.

......For Satoshi-kun and Rena, who blindly believes in Oyashiro-sama's Curse, the surveillance must've felt like Oyashiro-sama's presence to them.
Combined with self-victimizing delusions, it's not unreasonable for them to be feeling like they're experiencing abnormal experiences.

In other words, from the information that Rena has brought me, we can surmise that Satoshi-kun appears to have already been placed under surveillance long before Watanagashi.

If that's the case, then one question arises at this point.

And that is the meaning of the 「surveillance」 that Rena received.

I have assumed that this surveillance is performed on the victims of the year.
But, if that's the case, then I don't understand the meaning of the surveillance against Rena.

She lived in a land far away that's different from Hinamizawa. What meaning was there when they observed her?

If we were to define her as a villager who deserted her homeland, then yes, it's still understandable if she were to be met by the curse.

However, ...In the end, she didn't become a victim.
Perhaps she was pardoned after deciding to move back to Hinamizawa.

...It feels like she still knows about something that I don't know about....

He became more and more exhausted mentally as he goes home to protect Satoko from their ill-tempered aunt. Yet, he furthers his exhaustion physically by going to work everyday...

His relationships with his friends has also diminished. It seems that all he does at school is sleeping at his desk or spending time alone. It tears my heart to see Satoshi-kun when I remember him in his nonchalant attitude.

In addition, the load on his psychological state must be strenuous with "Oyashiro-sama's curse" befalling on him.

I'm certain that the Oyashiro-sama's curse must be them "spying" on Satoshi-kun in order to make him as this year's victim. Then that means the other victim for this year, Aunt Houjou, should also have had some spying done to her as well. Did the aunt also feel any weird indications that someone was spying on her? No, it's not only her. Were all the past victims spied upon before their deaths?

I must investigate this further to prove that the "curse" upon Satoshi-kun is because of this "spying." Is the cause coming from "spying," his own "persecution complex,"......or is it really a "curse?"

Satoshi-kun must've been very cunning, or blessed with luck, ...or perhaps it really wasn't him, but there wasn't any trail left at the crime scene that would point to Satoshi-kun as the culprit.

Even then, at this point, it's almost certain that Satoshi-kun is the culprit.

Just look at the situation of Satoshi-kun's family, and you'll find plenty of motives.
He had no alibi either.

Everything is there except material evidences.

It was perfectly natural that Oishi would show up at this point to end the game.

Although the appearance of a joker card like me was unexpected, it's not enough to overturn the overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation for Satoshi-kun.

With an animal-like sense of smell, Oishi is already trying to pin it all on Satoshi-kun.

All that's left is for him to wait until Satoshi-kun shakes and breaks on his own......

That's what I thought. And that's what Oishi thought too.

A few days later, that whole table will get flipped over.
I'll save the story about that for now, but in any case, Oishi's theory is going to fall through completely, and the police will get a knock out.

In that case, then I have only one question.

And that's "who saved Satoshi-kun?"

For me at this point, I couldn't think of anything except that the Sonozaki family must've acted behind the scenes and made up a culprit.

Not a TIPS, but since the anime cut out Oishi's interrogation with Shion, here's a brief rundown of what was said during the interview:

A. Houjou Satoshi disappeared.

B. A huge amount of money was withdrawn from his postal-bank account on the day that he disappeared.

C. The teddy bear at the store was gone. However, the store cannot recall whether it was Satoshi who bought it or not (The anime portrays the shop keeper as a young man. In the game, the shop keeper was an elderly man with signs of dementia.)

D. If Satoshi acted accordingly, he would've:

Withdrew all the money

Went to the toy store to buy the big teddy bear for Satoko's birthday present

Since the present is huge and thinking how Satoshi really was looking foward to giving Satoko her present, he should've gone straight home.

E. Steps 1 → 2 had to happen. Satoshi was working himself to death to surprise Satoko. He would never have thought to just abandon Satoko and take off. Since the teddy bear at the store was gone, Satoshi must've bought it.

F. Hence, if Satoshi had disappeared, it would've been from Steps 2 → 3

G. Did Satoshi disappear? One hope is that there was a report at a train station in Nagoya that a kid fitting Satoshi's description came up and asked whether they have his wallet at the lost and found. When asked to write down his name, he started to write "Houjou," but stopped immediately, crumpled up the paper, and wrote a different name instead. Another station attendant at the same station saw a person fitting the exact same description jumping on the Shinkansen headbound for Tokyo. It is a very slim hope, but Satoshi may still be alive, somewhere underneath these skies.

H. But why? Why would Satoshi decide to leave Hinamizawa, leaving behind his sister that he cared for so much?

Oishi's theory explained to Shion:

A. Satoshi and Satoko were abused by their foster parents. It is inevitable that Satoshi might've had a breaking point. So let's say (Oishi stresses this as a theory, since he has no proof due to Shion's alibi) that Satoshi did kill Aunt Houjou Tamae.

B. However, because of Shion's alibi, Satoshi was exonerated.

C. Unfortunately the Sonozaki head, was highly displeased that a member of the Sonozaki would fall in love with a member of the traitor, Houjou.

D. While Shion was able to redeem herself by breaking off her nails, Oryou may not have been satisfied. Shion did declare her love for Satoshi openly and proudly at the torture chamber. But once again, this is the Sonozakis. They must've known that Satoshi was the real killer of Aunt Houjou. It was unacceptable for a member of the Sonozaki to be in love with a troublemaker killer. So Oryou may have decided that she needed to teach a lesson once and for all so that Shion can forget about Satoshi.

E. Oryou must've ordered the (literal) disappearance of Satoshi.

F. However, Mion must've compromised to spare Satoshi.

G. So, what would the Sonozaki's do to make Satoshi "disappear?"

H. Now what if, (and Oishi stresses this again) the teddy bear was bought before Satoshi arrived at the toy store?

I. Yes. That's a highly remote possibility. The teddy bear sat there all this time, while Satoshi eagerly looked at the window as he made and saved money to buy that bear for Satoko. Satoshi even reserved that bear with Shion's advice. What are the chances of the bear being bought on the day Satoshi was supposed to buy it?

J. But we're talking about the Sonozakis here. If the local yakuza ganged up to the store, dumped a wad of cash for the bear, would the toy store refuse because it was already "reserved?"

K. Now the teddy bear was gone. Satoshi, excited to buy the bear, looks into the window and sees......nothing. All his toil and sweat...for nothing. All he wanted to do was make Satoko happy. But, someone else bought the teddy bear. What a despair. Poor, poor Satoshi. What must it been like for him? His heart must've been ripped to shreds. He has never cried, but one can imagine him crying and screaming when he saw the teddy bear gone. Now all he has is a stash of cash in his hands that is practically useless to him...

L. Sonozakis comes up to him: look, you have nothing - you don't belong here. But since we're kind, we're gonna let you live. But, you can't come back to Hinamizawa no more. We've set up a safe house for you in somewhere far away. Why don't you use that cash to get there? We'll promise to take of Satoko. The condition is - you gotta go.

M. And that's how Satoshi left...in despair, leaving behind Satoko. With no present to give, being a killer, he must've felt that he had no way to show his face to Satoko. With Sonozaki's pity, he straddled to Okinomiya Station...to Nagoya...and onward to Tokyo.

FULL CREDIT FOR TRANSLATION: LostBlue
-------------------------------------------------------

The suspicious news of whether Satoshi-kun went to Tokyo has no proof.

In the first place that news started off like this:

At the window of the Nagoya Station’s Lost & Found, a distressed young man arrived asking for his wallet. Thereupon the station personal handed the man a form asking him to write his name down while the worker searched the inventory for such an item. Then the young man started to write Hojou, stopped and crumpled the form, taking a new one and wrote a completely different name. Another worker claimed to have seen a young man clothed similar to the man at the Lost & Found window rush on board a bullet train to Tokyo.

It seems earlier at the locker room, the worker at the Lost & Found window described the suspicious person who came up to him and the worker at the platform claimed he also saw that person as well jumping on a bullet train heading towards Tokyo.

...that is all.

The wallet reported by the man who named himself as Hojou was never received at the Lost & Found.

When Oishi told me his theory that the Sonozaki family would promise to look after Satoko if Satoshi were to move away, I thought that idea was ridiculous.

But once I thought about this idea more carefully, it seems this theory is not so farfetched after all.

For one, Houjou Satoko is now living with Furude Rika once she became all by herself. Furude Rika is also not just a little girl herself either. She is the current head of the Furude family gosanke. Furude Rika is also under the protective custody of the head of the Kimiyoshi family as well.

Even though the Sonozakis would dare not keep a child from the Houjou under them, they did keep their word as Houjou Satoko is being cared for under the two gosankes.

Given how much the they were denounced as traitors during the dam protests, it is unbelievable that a Houjou family member would be under the gosanke's protection.

It's as if only Satoko was given amnesty for the crimes that the Houjou family had committed.

These short journal entries are not from the TIPs section of the Sound Novels, but served as intermission scenes expressing Shion's thoughts at the time

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notebook Page 5 (Ep. 16)

For me who could not even walk satisfactory under the sun, this brief moment where I met with this one boy in the sunlight; Who would have thought that a twisted person such as myself to be attracted to one as pure as him.

Notebook Page 5

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notebook Page 19 (Ep. 16)

Of course there were days were we laughed together, and there were days we would disagree with one another. Just as there are no sunny days that will not cloud, there are no rainy days that will not clear. I thought of Satoshi-kun’s absence as no more than that. But, already by this time, he was utterly cornered.

Notebook Page 19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notebook Page 26 (Ep. 17)

I was struck in horror with the childishness of my actions.
I just wanted to satisfy my loneliness, regardless of his feelings.
When I think about it, I believe Satoshi-kun confronted me as a true gentleman would.
But... whether I can forgive Satoko is another matter.

Notebook Page 26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notebook Page 27 (Ep. 17)

If I identify myself as Shion, I can save Satoshi-kun.
Of course, I know the risk of identifying myself as Shion.
If I identify myself here, I will 100% be detained by Oni-baba.
But, I had no idea what I will face afterwards as a consequence.

Notebook Page 27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notebook Page 43 (Ep. 17)

Satoshi-kun disappeared.
But, it was not only him that was eliminated. The reason why he disappeared was also eliminated. This is the world of man. Obviously, someone had to have eliminated them. I will not believe that he disappeared as an “Onikakushi.”

(note: this note is written after Shion met Takano for the first time in the library)
---------------------

I have been in contact with Takano Miyo for a while after that.

Her true nature lies in her interest for the bizzare, as well as a curious mind that's just as eccentric.

That's why I have to make sure to take everything she says with a grain of salt.

......Because if not, ...then I might really end up believing that Satoshi-kun disappeared because of the curse.

Her stories about the dark side of the Hinamizawa village were filled with interesting topics.

Among these talks, which she probably treats as nothing but her own guesses and theories, some of them actually contained truths that I know to be true because I am a member of the Sonozaki family. I was stunned by the sharpness of her analyses.

She considered Oyashirosama's Curse as an extension of an ancient religious ritual.
In other words, an act by religious fanatics of Oyashirosama.

According to her unique theory, there is a faction in Hinamizawa with religion as it's central focus, with the Gosanke built up around it.

And that they are working behind the scenes to bring back the prestige that the sennins(*) of Onigafuchi village had before they were allegedly lost after the end of Meiji era.

The scale of Miyo-san's theory is extensive, and if you look at it as a whole, it makes good sense too.

However, if we look at a specific point, such as the reason for Satoshi-kun's disappearance, it doesn't provide any explanation at all.
It was nothing but an unrefined theory.

The information exchange between me and Oishi was carried out when I just happened to remember it.

Both me and Oishi were expecting new information from each other, but neither of us had anything new, so it ended with a regular chat.

By now, the talk about the Shinkansen to Tokyo doesn't even hold any grounds within me anymore.

It was clear that it's a false rumor.

Although Oishi is someone that I don't trust, ....he's an honest man when it comes to fair trades. He must have patiently looked into all of this himself.

I also informed him of various odd or false rumors, know that he would be able to determine their authenticity for me.

Eventually, even these meetings were slowing becoming pressured by Oishi's new assignments,
......finally ending up with "please call me if anything happens", and came to an end.

Oishi is no longer able to investigate, and my own investigation is at the limits too.
......Satoshi-kun's disappearance is caused by a supernatural phenomenon called "Onikakushi"... such ridiculous opinion is slowly becoming the accepted explanation.

In Hinamizawa, Satoshi-kun's disappearance is referred to as a "school transfer", and is becoming something that people would avoid talking about.

During the mess of Oyashirosama's Curse in 1982, I would swing between joy and sorrow at every new piece of information, and each time, theories I had in my head would be overturned.

But that was something that has placed an incredible amount of stress on me. ......Even that was enough to exhaust me completely.

Fatigue is cruel, but it also has a very gentle and accepting quality.
Little by little, it puts to sleep feelings such as anger, sadness, and doubt, that weakened me just by having them.

I will never forget Satoshi-kun.

I won't think about forgetting him and living on.

I continue to tell myself that all the time.

By telling myself that, ....so that my memories of Satoshi-kun would not be put to sleep, always, always.
The happy memories I had with Satoshi-kun, ......along with the scary feelings, and the sad feelings too, always, always.

This journal entry is not from the TIPS section of the Sound Novels, but served as intermission scenes expressing Shion's thoughts at the time

It has truly been a while since I last opened this notebook.
Spanning around 150 pages, it is bound fully with my thoughts.
This notebook clearly is the key that will unlock what is sealed at depths of my heart.
And sleeping in the depth of my heart, my last year’s self, slowly begins to open her eyes...

This journal entry is not from the TIPS section of the Sound Novels, but served as intermission scenes expressing Shion's thoughts at the time

I’m never bored the days I spend together with him.
Because he’s very playful, you know?
He always walks matching with my footsteps,
But if I stop suddenly, he scuttles taking one extra step.
It’s so cute, just too cute! Kyun Kyun ☆

The sacredness of the Ritual Tool Shrine, even within the worshippers of Oyashiro-sama is unsurpassed.

Of course even I, as a person with ties with Hinamizawa, know this.

But, in reality more that I ever thought, how upheld its inviolability is exceedingly irregular.

According to Takano-san’s research, the history to sacredness of the Ritual Tool Shrine is terribly old. Just the use of these Ritual Tools alone regards this peculiar festival, the “Watanagashi,” as a holy testimony.

But, the Watanagashi in Takano-san’s research isn’t just a genuine religious ceremony; it is a public execution to assure the supremacy of the Gosanke.

If so, then calling this a holy rite is a mistake to begin with.
Under these conditions, their existence should have been subject to hatred and horror.

The constant exposure to terror is nothing more than dominance through fear. But, when done with utmost secrecy it eventually bestows into sanctity.

They say when a mere person touches these tools, they become impure.
Which means nothing more than… if the tools were publicly displayed they will loose their praise, so withhold them in feign importance, to increase their glory.

In other words the truth behind the sacredness of the Ritual Tool Shrine is... fear. It is the true identity of the emotion which rules this village...